Psalm 76 and Review Quiz

There are 19,590 syllables in my Psalter. Well this might not be fully agreeable, one because I have restored a verse from the LXX and two because I am not absolutely certain that my syllabification is accurate. 

The central verse appears to be in Psalm 76 and the central word of the Psalter appears to be the first word of verse 5.

Psalms 76: Syllables: 222; Longest recitation: 8; Tenor: B 27.48%;
Ornament density: 6.3%; Average phrase length: 8.8.

It's not a bad shot for the central verse of the Psalter.

5 ♪g Light-giving you are more excellent than mountains of prey. (g-1-1)
ה נ֭אור את֥ה אד֗יר מֽהררי־טֽרף	10		h naor ath adir mhrri-Trf

I thought this might prove to be a useful verse for a quiz.

1. What type of verse is it?
2. How many ornaments and what is/are their names?
3. How many distinct recitation notes and for each, what is the name, degree of the scale, and Hebrew accent name?

Name the letters in Hebrew and map them to the SimHebrew.

Answers are below this post.

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The music in these posts is derived from the accents in the Hebrew Bible. Introductions - letters, music, text and music, and terminology, are here.

Psalms 76: Syllables: 222; Longest recitation: 8; Tenor:  B  27.48%;
Ornament density: 6.3%; Average phrase length: 8.8.

Verse 2 needed correction from Aleppo. The shape of verse 2 is very common (104 instances now), so when I see that return to the tonic e B e B, I am suspicious again and must examine an earlier reconstruction. That is easier now with the electronic version at mgketer.org than it was when the only version online was images. And of course it is far easier than it was for scholars prior to the internet, when travel was mandatory. I still give Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura credit for her brilliant idea on the deciphering key though she used a 19th century edition and, like me, could not reliably distinguish a silluq from a meteg. Too bad that even current Unicode is deficient here.

I also give credit for effort to William Wickes from the 19th century because he had to travel extensively to see the manuscripts. Still I think his words and concepts are too complex to be useful and of course are completely unmusical.

If he could see נוד֣ע בֽיהוד֣ה אלה֑ים and ask why the musical phrase on B is interrupted, he also would have been able to hear the announcement more clearly. I doubt that this is a spurious meteg. It looks more like a copyist mistake substituting a silluq for a hiriq (the little dot that indicates an i vowel).

Verse 8 - nowhere to rest. 

Verse 12 is the only tricolon. Ornament density is 6.3%, the second lowest in the 150 psalms.

Perhaps you can read more fluently now and no longer need me to bore you with details. The purpose of these posts is to make the psalms present to you in their musical form so that they can be sung, arranged, and understood with their music - perhaps even the musical form that the disciples sang, perhaps even older.

1 For the leader. On strings. A psalm of Asaph. A song. (1-4-1)
א למנצ֥ח בנגינ֑ת מזמ֖ור לאס֣ף שֽיר	7 6		a lmnxk bnginot mzmor lasf wir
2 Renowned in Judah is God. In Israel great is his name. (1-4-1)
ב נוד֣ע בִיהוד֣ה אלה֑ים ב֝ישרא֗ל גד֥ול שמֽו	8 8		b nody bihudh alohim biwral gdol wmo
3 And there is in Salem his booth, and his habitation in Zion. (1-4-1)
ג ויה֣י בשל֣ם סכ֑ו ומע֖ונת֣ו בציֽון	7 7		g vihi bwlm suco umyonto bxion
4 ♪g There he shatters the fire-brands of bow, shield, and sword, and battle. Selah. (g-1-4-1)
ד ש֭מה שב֣ר רשפי־ק֑שת מג֬ן וח֖רב ומלחמ֣ה סֽלה	7 11		d wmh wibr rwpi-qwt mgn vkrb umlkmh slh
5 ♪g Light-giving you are more excellent than mountains of prey. (g-1-1)
ה נ֭אור את֥ה אד֗יר מֽהררי־טֽרף	10		h naor ath adir mhrri-Trf
6 Taken as spoil are the mighty of heart. They have slumbered their sleep, and all forceful persons fail to find their hands. (1-4-1)
ו אשתולל֨ו אב֣ירי ל֭ב נמ֣ו שנת֑ם ולא־מצא֖ו כל־אנשי־ח֣יל ידיהֽם	12 11		v awtollu abiri lb nmu wntm vla-mxau cl-anwi-kil idihm
7 ♪g From your rebuke O God of Jacob, stupefied are both chariot and horse. (g-1-4-1)
ז מ֭גער֣תך אלה֣י יעק֑ב נ֝רד֗ם ור֣כב וסֽוס	11 7		z mgyrtç alohi iyqob nrdm vrcb vsus
8 You are to be feared, you yourself, and who can stand in your presence at the onset of your anger? (1-1)
ח את֤ה נ֥ורא א֗תה ומֽי־יעמ֥ד לפנ֗יך מא֥ז אפֽך	19		k ath nora ath umi-iymod lpniç maz apç
9 ♪g From heaven you made sentence heard. Earth feared and was quiet, (g-1-4-1)
ט מ֭שמים השמ֣עת ד֑ין א֖רץ יֽרא֣ה ושקֽטה	7 8		T mwmiim hwmyt din arx irah vwqTh
10 When God arose to judgment, to save all the afflicted of the earth. Selah. (1-4-1)
י בקום־למשפ֥ט אלה֑ים להוש֖יע כל־ענוי־א֣רץ סֽלה	8 10		i bqum-lmwpT alohim lhowiy cl-ynvvi-arx slh
11 For human heat will thank you. The residue of heat you will wear. (1-4-1)
יא כֽי־חמ֣ת אד֣ם תוד֑ך שאר֖ית חמ֣ת תחגֽר	7 7		ia ci-kmt adm todç warit kmot tkgor
12 Vow and pay to Yahweh your God. All round about him, convey tribute fearfully. (1-2-4-1)
יב נֽדר֣ו ושלמו֮ ליהו֪ה אֽלה֫יכ֥ם כל־סביב֑יו יוב֥ילו ש֝֗י למורֽא	12 4 7		ib ndru vwlmu lihvh alohicm cl-sbibiv iobilu wi lmora
13 ♪g He will enclose the spirit of aristocrats. He will be feared by the kings of the earth. (g-1-4-1)
יג י֭בצר ר֣וח נגיד֑ים נ֝ור֗א למלכי־אֽרץ	7 6		ig ibxor ruk ngidim nora lmlci-arx

Quiz answers

1. What type of verse is verse 5? g-1-1 There are 30 verses that begin on the mediant, all in the poetry books. This verse form is rare.
2. How many ornaments and what is/are their names? 1 - revia
3. How many distinct recitation notes and for each, what is the name, degree of the scale, and Hebrew accent name? There are 3 distinct recitation pitches, 

• g, (also called mediant) third degree of the scale, tifha; 
• f#, supertonic, second degree of the scale, mercha; 
• e tonic, first degree of the scale, silluq 

Name the letters in Hebrew and map them to the SimHebrew.

ה נ֭אור את֥ה אד֗יר מֽהררי־טֽרף

h - the first letter on the right above is heh, the verse number 5 

naor - the first word is nun, aleph, vav, heh -- you can see that vav is sometimes represented by o

ath - the second word is aleph, taf, heh

adir - the third word is aleph, daleth, iod, resh

mhrri-Trf - the fourth and fifth words are joined by a maqqef = hyphen mem, heh, double resh, iod, - tet, resh, peh which sometimes sounds like f especially in the final position. A word with a maqqef may have only one accent. In this case, each part of the word has its accent to shape the word to the melody.

See this post for an introduction to the letters.